Trailborn’s outdoorsy hotels are joining Marriott — here’s what we know about the partnership
Fans of the great outdoors have a new reason to love Marriott: Trailborn, a small collection of nature-focused, outdoorsy hotels, is set to join Marriott Bonvoy in the coming months. Ahead of the integration, Marriott Bonvoy has updated its terms and conditions to reflect how the new Trailborn partnership will work, as first reported by Award Wallet.
What is Trailborn?
Trailborn touts its properties as "boutique hotels in extraordinary outdoor destinations" on the company's official website. Those extraordinary destinations are near Rocky Mountain National Park and the Grand Canyon, as well as popular beach towns on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. When the strategic partnership was announced in December, Marriott said Trailborn's portfolio of open and future properties included 559 rooms in the following hotels:
- Trailborn Rocky Mountains — Estes Park, Colorado
- Trailborn Highlands — Highlands, North Carolina
- Trailborn Surf & Sound — Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina
- Trailborn Grand Canyon — Williams, Arizona
- Trailborn Mendocino — Mendocino, California (coming soon)
The hotels are trendy, chic and not your typical bare-bones nature lodge. At Trailborn properties, guests can expect great bars and restaurants, guided outdoor excursions, activities like campfires and live music, the occasional pool or hot tub, and curated field guides to show you around the community.
How will Trailborn integrate into Marriott Bonvoy?
In the original partnership announcement, Marriott said Trailborn's current portfolio would join "Marriott's planned outdoor-focused collection, with expected integration into Marriott's system and platforms, including Marriott.com and the Marriott Bonvoy app, in 2025."
Recently, Marriott Bonvoy updated its terms and conditions to reflect the upcoming Trailborn integration. Marriott Bonvoy members will earn 10 base points per $1 spent when booking through Marriott channels, the Trailborn support team, a Trailborn property or Trailborn's website. (If you're booking through Trailborn, just be sure to call and confirm that your Marriott Bonvoy number is linked.)
Marriott Bonvoy members can also expect the following at Trailborn properties:
- Complimentary in-room internet access.
- Ultimate Reservation Guarantee: Elite members receive $200 and 90,000 Marriott Bonvoy points if a confirmed reservation is made unavailable.
- Elite welcome gifts: 500 points for Gold Elite members; 1,000 points or a $10 food-and-beverage credit per night for Platinum Elite members (one guest may also receive a $10 credit per night).
- Platinum Elite and higher members will receive $100 if their booked room type is unavailable.
Here's what Marriott Bonvoy members should not expect, according to the newly laid-out terms and conditions:
- Member rates
- Gift shop discount
- Guaranteed lounge access
- Nightly Upgrade Awards
- 48-hour guaranteed availability
- Instant Redemption Awards
Now the only question that remains is when these properties will be bookable through Marriott Bonvoy. Right now, Marriott's list of effective participation dates marks all the Trailborn properties simply as "coming soon."
On the Marriott website, Trailborn Highlands claims to be opening in April of this year. As of publishing, though, the other open hotels simply say that "reservations are not yet available."
Points hotels are leaning into the outdoors
Trailborn is one of a series of recently announced acquisitions or partnerships between major hotel loyalty programs and smaller, outdoors-focused hotel brands.
On the same day Marriott announced its partnership with Trailborn, it also announced the acquisition of Postcard Cabins, offering over 1,200 cabins across the U.S. Last year, Hilton launched a partnership with AutoCamp, giving Hilton Honors members the chance to earn and burn points on Airstream stays from Yosemite National Park to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Hyatt is also part of the movement, adding luxury glamping company Under Canvas to the World of Hyatt family.
More hotels joining major loyalty programs means more opportunities for folks to visit America's incredible national parks — and to save money while doing so. It also reinforces the fact that outdoorsy hotels don't always have to be rugged or bare-bones. Most of these hotels, in contrast, err on the side of cool, upscale and — most importantly — comfortable.
Bottom line
We're excited about Trailborn's partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, even if some of the fine print leaves us wanting a bit more for members. Either way, these exciting properties offer Marriott loyalists and nature lovers exciting new places to earn or burn points while exploring the wonders of our national parks.
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